Semiconductor devices fabricated with different processing options

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device that provides identical functionality and timing characteristics, fabricated with two fabricating options comprised of: a user configurable high cost fabricating option utilizing a set of masking patterns and a process sequence; and a mask programmable lower cost fabricating option utilizing a reduced set of said masking patterns and reduced steps of said process sequence, wherein at least one mask is customized and a plurality of masks are identical.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/267,511, filed Oct. 8, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,478, which claims priority from Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/393,763 entitled “Wire Replaceable TFT SRAM Cell and Cell Array Technology”, filed on Jul. 8, 2002 and Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/397,070 entitled “Wire Replaceable Thin Film Fuse and Anti-fuse Technology”, filed on Jul. 22, 2002, all of which have as inventor Mr. R. U. Madurawe and the contents of which are incorporated-by-reference.

This application is also related to application Ser. No. 10/267,484 entitled “Methods for Fabricating Three-Dimensional Integrated Circuits” and application Ser. No. 10/267,483 entitled “Three-Dimensional Integrated Circuit”, all of which were filed on Oct. 8, 2002 and list as inventor Mr. R U. Madurawe, the contents of which are incorporated-by-reference. This application is further related to application Ser. No. 10/825,194 filed on Apr. 13, 2004, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/267,511, and has as inventor Mr. R. U. Madurawe, the contents of which are incorporated-by-reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to multi-dimensional integrated circuits.

Traditionally, integrated circuit (IC) devices such as custom, semi-custom, or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices have been used in electronic products to reduce cost, enhance performance or meet space constraints. However, the design and fabrication of custom or semi-custom ICs can be time consuming and expensive. The customization involves a lengthy design cycle during the product definition phase and high Non Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs during manufacturing phase. Further, should errors exist in the custom or semi-custom ICs, the design/fabrication cycle has to be repeated, further aggravating the time to market and engineering cost. As a result, ASICs serve only specific applications and are custom built for high volume and low cost applications.

Another type of semi custom device called a Gate Array customizes modular blocks at a reduced NRE cost by synthesizing the design using a software model similar to the ASIC. The missing silicon level design verification results in multiple spins and lengthy design iterations.

In recent years there has been a move away from custom or semi-custom ICs towards field programmable components whose function is determined not when the integrated circuit is fabricated, but by an end user “in the field” prior to use. Off the shelf, generic Programmable Logic Device (PLD) or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) products greatly simplify the design cycle. These products offer user-friendly software to fit custom logic into the device through programmability, and the capability to tweak and optimize designs to optimize silicon performance. The flexibility of this programmability is expensive in terms of silicon real estate, but reduces design cycle and upfront NRE cost to the designer.

FPGAs offer the advantages of low non-recurring engineering costs, fast turnaround (designs can be placed and routed on an FPGA in typically a few minutes), and low risk since designs can be easily amended late on in the product design cycle. It is only for high volume production runs that there is a cost benefit in using the more traditional approaches. However, the conversion from an FPGA implementation to an ASIC implementation typically requires a complete redesign. Such redesign is undesirable in that the FPGA design effort is wasted.

Compared to PLD and FPGA, an ASIC has hard-wired logic connections, identified during the chip design phase, and need no configuration memory cells. This is a large chip area and cost saving for the ASIC. Smaller ASIC die sizes lead to better performance. A full custom ASIC also has customized logic functions which take less gate counts compared to PLD and FPGA configurations of the same functions. Thus, an ASIC is significantly smaller, faster, cheaper and more reliable than an equivalent gate-count PLD or FPGA. The trade-off is between time-to-market (PLD and FPGA advantage) versus low cost and better reliability (ASIC advantage).

There is no convenient migration path from a PLD or FPGA used as a design verification and prototyping vehicle to the lower die size ASIC. All of the SRAM or Anti-fuse configuration bits and programming circuitry has no value to the ASIC. Programmable module removal from the PLD or FPGA and the ensuing layout and design customization is time consuming with severe timing variations from the original design.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a three-dimensional semiconductor device with two selectable manufacturing configurations includes a first module layer having a plurality of circuit blocks; and a second module layer formed substantially above the first module layer, wherein in a first selectable configuration a plurality of memory circuits are formed to store instructions to control a portion of the circuit blocks, and wherein in a second selectable configuration a predetermined conductive pattern is formed in lieu of the memory circuit to control substantially the same portion of the circuit blocks.

Implementations of the above aspect may include one or more of the following. A third module layer can be formed substantially above the first module layer, wherein interconnect and routing signals are formed to connect the circuit modules within the first and second module layers. The second module layer in its first configuration can contain isolated through connections to connect the first module layer to the third module layer. A third module layer can be formed between the first and second module layers, wherein interconnect and routing signals are formed to connect the circuit modules within the first and second module layers. The first selectable configuration forms a programmable logic device (PLD) with one or more digital circuits formed on the first module layer; one or more programmable logic blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more memory blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more configurable memory elements formed on the second module layer and electrically coupled to the programmable logic blocks to customize the programmable content of the PLD; and one or more interconnect and routing signals formed in a third module layer, electrically coupled to first and second module layers to provide the functionality of the PLD. The second selectable configuration forms an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) with one or more digital circuits formed on the first module layer; one or more programmable logic blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more memory blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to digital circuits; one or more predetermined connections formed on the second module layer and electrically coupled to the programmable logic blocks to customize the programmable content; and one or more interconnect and routing signals formed in a third module layer and electrically coupled to first and second module layers. The second module layer can be generic and user configurable to program and re-program to alter the functional response and performance of the PLD. The predetermined conductive pattern can be positioned substantially above the digital circuits. The predetermined conductive pattern can also be integrated in the first module layer or alternatively can be integrated in the third module layer. For every given memory pattern of the second module layer in the first configuration, a unique predetermined connection pattern can exist in the second configuration to substantially match logic customization. One or more of the circuit blocks within the first module layer can maintain substantially identical timing characteristics under both configurations of second module layer logic control. The memory circuit can include one or more thin film devices such as thin film transistors (TFTs), resistors and capacitors. The replaceable memory can be selected from the group consisting of fuse links, antifuse capacitors, SRAM cells, DRAM cells, metal optional links, EPROM cells, EEPROM cells, Flash cells, and Ferro-electric elements. The digital circuit can include a third-party IP core. The digital circuit includes a processor capable of executing software logic instructions and other programmable logic blocks, wherein the programmable logic block is selected from one or more of a pass gate logic, multiplexer logic, truth table logic, or an AND/OR logic. The module layer one can include a substrate layer, n-well & p-well layers, field isolation regions, NMOS & PMOS gate, drain, source regions of transistors built on substrate, N+ & P+ diodes, resistors and capacitors built on substrate, gate oxide, gate poly, salicided regions, inter layer dielectric and contacts.

In another aspect, a programmable logic device includes one or more digital circuits formed on a substrate; and a non-planar circuit electrically coupled to the digital circuits, the non-planar circuit being either a memory constructed to store data to define the logic outputs of the digital circuits to fabricate a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a conductive pattern constructed to define the logic outputs of the digital circuits to fabricate an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), wherein the memory and the conductive pattern options have substantially matching functionality timing characteristics.

Implementations of the above aspects may include one or more of the following. The IC product is re-programmable in its initial stage with turnkey conversion to an ASIC. The IC has the end ASIC cost structure and FPGA re-programmability. The IC product offering occurs in two phases: the first stage is a generic FPGA that has re-programmability containing a programmable module, and the second stage is an ASIC with the entire programmable module replaced by 1 to 2 customized hard-wire masks.

Advantages of the IC may include one or more of the following. A series product families can be provided with a modularized programmable element in an FPGA version followed by a turnkey custom ASIC with the same base die with 1-2 custom masks. The vertically integrated programmable module does not consume valuable silicon real estate of a base die. Furthermore, the design and layout of these product families adhere to removable module concept: ensuring the functionality and timing of the product in its FPGA and ASIC canonicals. These IC products can replace existing PLD and FPGA products and compete with existing Gate. Arrays and ASIC's in cost and performance.

An easy turnkey customization of an ASIC from an original smaller PLD or FPGA would greatly enhance time to market, performance, low cost and better reliability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of an integrated circuit.

FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of a second embodiment of an integrated circuit.

FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view of a third embodiment of an integrated circuit.

FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view of a fourth embodiment of an integrated circuit.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary AND-OR PLD Architecture.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary AND-OR array gate realization of PLD.

FIG. 7 shows one EEPROM implementation of a P-Term logic array.

FIG. 8 shows P-term configuration for SRAM/hard-wired PLD architecture.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary pass-gate logic.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary 4-Input logic MUX.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary 2-Input Truth Table.

FIG. 12 shows a logic tree implementation of a 4-Input Truth Table.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary 6T SRAM.

FIG. 14 shows pass gate transistor logic controlled by SRAM.

FIG. 15 shows one embodiment of a 5×6 switch matrix.

FIG. 16 shows pass gate controlled by Vcc (power) or Vss (ground)

FIG. 17 shows the 5×6 switch matrix

DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The terms wafer and substrate used in the following description include any structure having an exposed surface with which to form the integrated circuit (IC) structure of the invention. The term substrate is understood to include semiconductor wafers. The term substrate is also used to refer to semiconductor structures during processing, and may include other layers that have been fabricated thereupon. Both wafer and substrate include doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxial semiconductor layers supported by a base semiconductor or insulator, SOI material as well as other semiconductor structures well known to one skilled in the art. The term conductor is understood to include semiconductors, and the term insulator is defined to include any material that is less electrically conductive than the materials referred to as conductors. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

The term module layer includes a structure that is fabricated using a series of predetermined process steps. The boundary of the structure is defined by a first step, one or more intermediate steps, and a final step. The resulting structure is formed on a substrate.

The term configuration circuit includes one or more configurable elements and connections that can be programmed for controlling one or more circuit blocks in accordance with a predetermined user-desired functionality. In one embodiment, the configuration circuits include a plurality of memory circuits to store instructions to configure an FPGA. In another embodiment, the configuration circuits include a first selectable configuration where a plurality of memory circuits is formed to store instructions to control one or more circuit blocks. The configuration circuits include a second selectable configuration with a predetermined conductive pattern formed in lieu of the memory circuit to control substantially the same circuit blocks. The memory circuit includes elements such as diode, transistor, resistor, capacitor, metal link, among others. The memory circuit also includes thin film elements. In yet another embodiment, the configuration circuits include a predetermined conductive pattern, via, resistor, capacitor or other suitable circuits formed in lieu of the memory circuit to control substantially the same circuit blocks. The term “horizontal” as used in this application is defined as a plane parallel to the conventional plane or surface of a wafer or substrate, regardless of the orientation of the wafer or substrate. The term “vertical” refers to a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction as defined above. Prepositions, such as “on”, “side”, “higher”, “lower”, “over” and “under” are defined with respect to the conventional plane or surface being on the top surface of the wafer or substrate, regardless of the orientation of the wafer or substrate.

FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of an integrated circuit that can be selectably fabricated as either an FPGA or an ASIC. In this embodiment, a three-dimensional semiconductor device 100 is shown. The device 100 includes a first module layer 102 having a plurality of circuit blocks 104 embedded therein. The device 100 also includes a second module layer 106 formed substantially above the first module layer 102. One or more configuration circuits 108 are formed to store instructions to control a portion of the circuit blocks 104. In the first selectable option, circuits 108 are programmable to build FPGA products. In the second selectable option, circuits 108 are wire connections to build ASIC products. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, wiring/routing circuits 112 are formed on a third layer 110 above the second layer 106. Circuits 112 connect to both circuits 104 and 108 to complete the functionality of the PLD.

FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of a second embodiment of an integrated circuit that can be selectably fabricated as either an FPGA or an ASIC. In this embodiment, a three-dimensional semiconductor device 120 is shown. The device 120 includes a first module layer 122 having a plurality of circuit blocks 124 embedded therein. The device 120 also includes a second module layer 126 formed substantially above the first module layer 122 that includes wiring and/or routing circuitry 128, and a third module layer 130 formed substantially above the second module layer 126 that includes configuration circuits 132. In the first selectable option, circuits 132 are programmable to build FPGA products. In the second selectable option, circuits 132 are wire connections to build ASIC products. The wiring/routing circuitry 128 is electrically connected to the circuit blocks 124 and to configuration circuits 132 in a third module layer 130. The configuration circuits 132 store instructions to control a portion of the circuit blocks 124.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment which is substantially similar to the embodiment of FIG. 2. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, a fourth layer 140 having wiring/routing circuitry 142 is position above the third layer 130. The wiring/routing circuitry 142 is electrically connected to one of the following: one or more circuit blocks 124, one or more wiring/routing circuitry 128, and one or more configuration circuits 132.

FIG. 4 shows one implementation where the configuration memory element is SRAM First, silicon transistors 150 are deposited on a substrate. A module layer of removable SRAM memory cells 152 are positioned above the silicon transistors 150, and a module layer of interconnect wiring or routing circuit 154 is formed above the removable memory cells 152. In the first selectable option, SRAM cells 152 are programmable to build EPGA products. In the second selectable option, cells 152 are replaced with wire connections to build ASIC products. To allow this replacement, the design adheres to a hierarchical layout structure. As shown in FIG. 4, the SRAM cell module is sandwiched between the single crystal device layers below and the metal layers above electrically connecting to both. It also provides through connections “A” for the lower device layers to upper metal layers. The SRAM module contains no switching electrical signal routing inside the module. All such routing is in the layers above and below. Most of the programmable element configuration signals run inside the module. Upper layer connections to SRAM module “C” are minimized to Power, Ground and high drive data wires. Connections “B” between SRAM module and single crystal module only contain logic level signals and replaced later by Vcc and Vss wires to build the ASIC. Most of the replaceable programmable elements and its configuration wiring is in the “replaceable module” while all the devices and end ASIC wiring is outside the “replaceable module”. In other embodiments, the replaceable module could exist between two metal layers or as the top most layer satisfying the same device and routing constraints.

Fabrication of the IC also follows a modularized device formation. Formation of transistors 150 and routing 154 is by utilizing a standard logic process flow used in the ASIC fabrication. Extra processing steps used for memory element 152 formation are inserted into the logic flow after circuit layer 150 is constructed. A full disclosure of the vertical integration of the TFT module using extra masks and extra processing is in the co-pending incorporated by reference applications discussed above.

During the customization, the base die and the data in those remaining mask layers do not change making the logistics associated with chip manufacture simple. In one embodiment, the custom wire connections can be combined with the contact in module-1 and metal-1 in module-2 processing. In another embodiment, the custom wire connections can be an extra metal-1, via-1 insertion compatible with logic processing. Removal of the SRAM module provides a low cost standard logic process for the final ASIC construction with the added benefit of a smaller die size. The design timing is unaffected by this migration as lateral metal routing and silicon transistors are untouched. Software verification and the original FPGA design methodology provide a guaranteed final ASIC solution to the user. A full disclosure of the ASIC migration from the original FPGA is provided in the body of this discussion.

In FIG. 4, the third module layer is formed substantially above the first and second module layers, wherein interconnect and routing signals are formed to connect the circuit modules within the first and second module layers. Alternatively, the third module layer can be formed substantially below the first and second module layer with the interconnect and routing signals formed to connect the circuit modules within the first and second module layers. Alternatively, the third and fourth module layers positioned above and below the second module layer respectively, wherein the third and fourth module layers provide interconnect and routing signals to connect the circuit modules within the first and second module layers.

In yet another embodiment of a programmable multi-dimensional semiconductor device, a first module layer is fabricated having a plurality of circuit blocks formed on a first plane. The programmable multi-dimensional semiconductor device also includes a second module layer formed on a second plane. A plurality of configuration circuits are then formed to store instructions to control a portion of the circuit modules.

In another embodiment, a programmable logic device includes one or more digital circuits formed on a substrate; and a non-planar circuit electrically coupled to the digital circuits, the non-planar circuit being either a memory constructed to store data to define the logic outputs of the digital circuits to fabricate a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a conductive pattern constructed to define the logic outputs of the digital circuits to fabricate an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), wherein the memory and the conductive pattern options have substantially matching functionality timing characteristics.

The design/conversion of the FPGA to the ASIC is explained next. The larger and very complex FPGA designs are done with computer-aided design (CAD) tools. A design specification is converted to a logical entry format for a Design Entry CAD tool. The abstract logic functions are described using Hardware Description Language (HDL, VHDL) or Schematic Diagrams. The design entry is compiled to extract the netlist. This netlist is used to synthesize the logic to be placed in the FPGA. Design capture so far is independent of the FPGA platform. A customized Place and. Route (fitter) software tool is used to select the logic gates and to make the required connections in a chosen FPGA. The design placed and routed inside the FPGA is simulated using test vectors to verify the performance and functionality. The optimized design database specifies how the FPGA programmable resources are utilized to achieve the original design objectives.

From the information contained in the design database, a configuration bitstream is generated by a tool commonly referred to as a bitstream compiler. All the logic and routing customization specific to the design is contained in this bitstream, which is a binary representation of every single configuration device in the FPGA. This is also referred to as a bitmap when the bitstream is mapped to the image of configuration elements. At the physical level, the defining binary data in the bitstream represent the ON/OFF states of the configurable switches that control logic blocks, 10 blocks and interconnection in the FPGA.

At this point, the configuration bitstream either may be downloaded to the logic array thereby configuring the device or the bitstream may be saved onto disk. If the FPGA contains non volatile memory elements, a programmer is used to program the bitmap into the device. Some non volatile memory (NVM) elements such as EEPROM and Flash lend to in system programmability (ISP), allowing programming inside the design board via JTAG instructions. SRAM based FPGA allow ISP, but need a NVM content outside the device to hold the bitstream.

Even though the design has been fine tuned in software for timing and functionality, it still needs to be verified on Silicon. This is due to inaccuracies between the timing model and silicon performance. Having a pre-fabricated generic FPGA makes this verification simple and quick. The FPGA device is then programmed and tested in a system board to verify operational correctness. If the design does not work it is re-optimized to work on silicon. When the design works, it is initially fielded. Should the device prove popular, the FPGA can be converted into an ASIC by hard-coding the bitstream.

First an image file is generated for all the B contacts that exist between Module layer-2 and Module layer-1 in FIG 4. These B contacts represent configuration element control of the logic blocks. There is a one to one matching between these B contacts and the bitmap generated for the design, as every configuration element is represented in both. We can define (1,0) in the bitstream to represent SRAM output at logic (1,0) respectively. Bitstream ones represent B contacts at Vcc, while bitstream zeros. represent B contacts at Vss. The bitstream can be automatically mapped to contact B file to convert those to Vcc and Vss hard connections. The contacts B are in the CAD database that generates the physical mask for wafer processing. This technique provides an error free software conversion of the bitstream to a had-wire mask. By appropriate pre-allocation of Vcc and Vss resources above the B contacts, one could conceivably generate the ASIC with only one custom mask, a considerable savings in expensive mask costs. All the C contacts in the hard mask are simply omitted as no configuration elements exist, while all the A contacts are retained.

The conversion does not result in a new placement and routing configuration that is different from the previous FPGA design. The conversion does not result in a change to the logic gates in module layer-1 or the lateral wire routing in module layer-3. The vertical contact height change is negligible in the gate and wire delay components of logic propagation. Logic gate timing is not affected by control options between SRAM output or Vcc/Vss. The timing is maintained identical in this FPGA to ASIC conversion. Furthermore, this conversion can be made by the FPGA supplier, with no engineering overhead, saving valuable design resources at both end user and manufacturing sites. The final hard mask ASIC has no soft errors (no SRAM bits to flip), better reliability as fewer processing steps and fewer hard wires (one connection to replace 6-transistors) are used, and provide a secure environment against “bitstream piracy”—a technique of stealing designs by extracting the bitstream from FPGAs.

Next, details of the circuit blocks 104, the configuration circuit 108, and the wiring and/or routing circuit 112 in FIG. 1 are detailed.

A variety of digital or analog circuits can be used in circuit blocks 104. These circuit blocks include programmable logic blocks to allow user customization of logic. In one embodiment, programmable logic blocks are provided to respond to input data signals. The programmable logic blocks develop corresponding complete or partial output logic signals. Registers are used to store the output logic signals and either outputting them to output terminals or returning them as inputs to additional programmable logic blocks. The registers themselves can be programmable, allowing those to be configured such as T flip-flops, JK flip-flops, or any other register. The logic blocks may contain no registers, or the registers may be programmed to be by-passed to facilitate combinational logic implementation. The programmable logic block can be selected from one of a pass gate logic, a multiplexer logic, a truth table logic, or an AND/OR logic. FIG. 5 shows an exemplary AND-OR PLD Architecture. AND and OR arrays 202 and 204 contain user configurable programmable elements. FIG. 6 shows an exemplary AND-OR array gate realization of a three input, four P-term, four output PLD. The AND and the OR array 210-212 are shown programmed to a specific pattern.

In yet other embodiments, the circuit block 104 contains a RAM/ROM logic block consisting of “logic element tree” or “P-Term logic array” blocks that perform logic functions. FIG. 7 shows one such NAND EEPROM implementation of a P-Term in NAND-NOR logic array, while FIG. 8 shows the same P-term configuration for either SRAM or hard-wired PLD architectures. FIG. 7 shows two mirrored outputs P1 and P2. For output P1, an AND gate 232 receives signals from pass transistors 222, 224, 228 and 230. The pass transistor 222 is controlled by block 220 shown in the dashed circle, while the pass transistor 228 is controlled by block 226 shown inside the dashed circle. Similarly, the upper half of FIG. 8 includes an AND gate 252 that receives inputs from pass transistors 242, 244, 248 and 250, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary pass-gate logic 260 connecting one input to one output. The NMOS pass gate voltage level SO determines an ON and OFF connection. FIG. 10 shows an exemplary 4-Input logic MUX implementing an output function O where O=I0*S0+I1*S1+I2*S2+I3*S3. In the MUX, only one of S0 270, S1 272, S2 274, S3 276 has a logic one. The MUX is constructed by combining four NMOS pass gate logic elements 280-286 shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary 2-input truth table logic realization of an output function F where, F =/A*/B*S 0+/A*B*S 1+A*/B*S 2+A*B*S 3 (/A means not A). The truth table logic states are represented by S0, S1, S2 and S3. The realization is done through six inverters collectively designated 250 and eight pass transistors collectively designated 260. Logic states are stored in 4 programmable registers.

FIG. 12 shows a logic tree constructed with five 2-input truth table logic blocks 320-328 to perform a full four input truth table. A four input truth table has 16 possible logic states S0, S1, . . . , S15. As the number of inputs grows to N, this logic tree construction requires 2^(N) logic states, and 2^((N−1)) branches in the logic tree. For large N values, a full truth table realization is less efficient compared to a partial product term AND-OR array realization.

In another embodiment, the programmable logic block, can be a programmable microprocessor block. The microprocessor can be selected from third party IP cores such as: 8051, Z80, 68000, MIPS, ARM, and PowerPC. These microprocessor architectures include superscalar, Fine Grain Multi-Threading (FGMT) and Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT) that support Application Specific Packet Processing (ASPP) routines. To handle Programmable Network Interface (PNI) the processor can contain hardware and software configurability. Hardware upgradeability can be greatly enhanced in microprocessors embedded in PLD's by making use of the available logic content of the PLD device. Programmable features can include varying processor speed, cache memory system and processor configuration, enhancing the degree of Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP), enhancing Thread level parallelism (TLP). Such enhancements allow the user to optimize the core processor to their specific application. Cache parameters such as access latency, memory bandwidth, interleaving and partitioning are also programmable to further optimize processor performance and minimize cache hit miss rates. Additionally, the processor block can be a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) processor to handle multimedia applications. The processor block can include a cache controller to implement a large capacity cache as compared with an internal cache.

While a PLD can be configured to do DSP functions, the programmable logic block can also contain a digital signal processor (DSP), which is a special purpose processor designed to optimize performance for very high speed digital signal processing encountered in wireless and fiber-optic networks. The DSP applications can include programmable content for cache partitioning, digital filters, image processing and speech recognition blocks. These real-time DSP applications contain high interrupt rates and intensive numeric computations best handled by hardware blocks. In addition, the applications tend to be intensive in memory access operations, which may require the input and output of large quantities of data. The DSP cache memory may be configured to have a “Harvard” architecture with separate, independent program and data memories so that the two memories may be accessed simultaneously. This architecture permits an instruction and an operand to be fetched from memory in a single clock cycle. A modified Harvard architecture utilizes the program memory for storing both instructions and operands to achieve full memory utilization. The program and data memories are often interconnected with the core processor by separate program and data buses. When both instructions and operands (data) are stored in a single program memory, conflicts may arise in fetching data with the next instruction. Such conflicts have been resolved in prior art for DSPs by providing an instruction cache to store conflicting instructions for subsequent program execution.

In yet another embodiment, programmable logic block can contain software programmability. These software functions are executed in DSP, ARM, or MIPS type inserted IP cores, or an external host CPU. Accelerators connected by a configurable SRAM switching matrix enhance the computation power of the processors. The microprocessor has local permanent SRAM memory to swap, read, and write data. The switch matrix is pre-designed to offer both hard-wire and programmable options in the final ASIC. In this situation, the circuit block 104 can be a functional block that performs well-defined, commonly-needed function, such as special D/A or A/D converter, standard bus interface, or such block that implements special algorithms such as MPEG decode. The special algorithms implemented can be hardware versions of software. For example, algorithms relating to digital radio or cellular telephone such as WCDMA signal processing can be implemented by the functional block. Other functional blocks include PCI, mini-PCI, USB, UART blocks that can be configured by specifying the SRAM logic blocks.

In yet another embodiment, the circuit block 104 can be memory such as a register file, cache memory, static memory, or dynamic memory. A register file is an array of latches that operate at high speed. This register length counter may be programmable by the user. A cache memory has a high access throughput, short access latency and a smaller capacity as compared with main memory. The cache memory may be programmable to partition between the different requirements of the system design. One such need is the division between L1 and L2 cache requirements for networking applications. The memory can also be static random access memory or (SRAM) device with an array of single port, or multi-port addressable memory cells. Each cell includes a four transistor flip-flop and access transistors that are coupled to input/output nodes of the flip-flop. Data is written to the memory cell by applying a high or low logic level to one of the input/output nodes of the flip-flop through one of the access transistors. When the logic level is removed from the access transistor, the flip-flop retains this logic level at the input/output node. Data is read out from the flip-flop by turning on the access transistor. The memory can also be dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Generally, a DRAM cell consists of one transistor and a capacitor. A word line turns on/off the transistor at the time of reading/writing data stored in the capacitor, and the bit line is a data input/output path. DRAM data is destroyed during read, and refresh circuitry is used to continually refresh the data. Due to the low component count per bit, a high density memory device is achieved.

In another embodiment, the circuit block 104 can be an intellectual property (“IP”) core which is reusable for licensing from other companies or which is taken from the same/previous design. In core-based design, individual cores may be developed and verified independently as stand-alone modules, particularly when IP core is licensed from external design source. These functions are provided to the user as IP blocks as special hardware blocks or pre-configured programmable logic blocks. The IP blocks connect via a programmable switching matrix to each other and other programmable logic. The hardware logic block insertion to any position in a logic sequence is done through the configurable logic matrix. These hardware logic blocks offer a significant gate count reduction on high gate count frequently used logic functions, and the user does not require generic “logic element” customization. In both cases, the user saves simulation time, minimize logic gate count, improve performance, reduce power consumption and reduce product cost with pre-defined IP blocks. The switch matrix is replaced by hard-wires in the final ASIC.

The circuit blocks 104 can also be an array of programmable analog blocks. In one embodiment, the analog blocks include programmable PLL, DLL, ADC and DAC. In another embodiment, each block contains an operational amplifier, multiple programmable capacitors, and switching arrangements for connecting the capacitors in such as a way as to perform the desired function. Switched capacitor filters can also be used to achieve an accurate filter specification through a ratio of capacitors and an accurate control of the frequency of a sampling clock. Multiple PLL's can be programmed to run at different frequencies on the same chip to facilitate SoC applications requiring more than one clock frequency.

The circuit blocks 104 also contain data fetch and data write circuitry required to configure the configuration circuits 108. This operation may be executed by a host CPU residing in the system, or the PLD device itself. During power up, these circuits initialize and read the configuration data from an outside source, either in serial mode or in parallel mode. The data is stored in a predefined word length locally and written to the configurability allocation. The programmed configuration data is verified against the locally stored data and a programming error flag is generated if there is a mismatch. These circuits are redundant in the conversion of the PLD to an ASIC. However, these circuits are used in both FPGA and ASIC for test purposes, and has no cost penalty. A pin-out option has a “disable” feature to disconnect them for the customer use in the FPGA and ASIC.

Configuration circuits 108 provide active circuit control over digital circuits 104. One embodiment of the configuration circuit includes an array of memory elements. The user configuration of this memory amounts to a specific bitmap of the programmable memory in a software representation.

Suitable memory elements include volatile or non volatile memory elements. In non-volatile memory (NVM) based products, configurable data is held in one of metal link fuse, anti-fuse, EPROM, Flash, EEPROM memory element, or ferro-electric elements. The first two are one time programmable (OTP), while the last four can be programmed multiple times. As EPROM's require UV light to erase data, only Flash & EEPROM's lend to in-system programmability (ISP). In volatile products, the configurable data storage can be SRAM cells or DRAM cells. With DRAM cells, the data requires constant refresh to prevent losses from leakages. Additionally, one or more redundant memory cells controlling the same circuit block can be used to enhance device yield.

The components of the memory element array can be a resistor, capacitor, transistor or a diode. In another embodiment of the configuration circuit, a memory element can be formed using thin film deposition. The memory element can be a thin film resistor, thin film capacitor, thin film transistor (TFT) or a thin film diode or a group of thin film devices connected to form an SRAM cell.

This discussion, is mostly on SRAM elements and can easily extend to include all other programmable elements. In all cases, the design needs to adhere to rules that allow programmable module elimination, with no changes to the base die, a concept not used in PLD, FPGA, Gate Array and ASIC products today.

An exemplary 6T SRAM cell, shown in FIG. 13, needs no high voltage capability, nor added process complexity. The cell of FIG. 13 has two back-to-back inverters 350-352 whose access is controlled by pass transistors 354-356. In addition, R-load & Thin Film Transistor (TFT) load PMOS based SRAM cells can be used for PLDs and FPGAs. To achieve zero stand-by power by eliminating sensing circuitry, and reduce memory element count for low input functions, these SRAM cells are embedded in truth table logic (also called Look-Up-Table) based architectures.

Pass gate transistor 360 logic controlled by SRAM is shown in FIG. 14. In, this embodiment, the memory cell (such as the cell of FIG. 13) drives the pass transistor 360 to e affect an outcome. A 5×6-switch point matrix 370 controlled by 30-SRAM cells coupled to 30-NMOS pass gates is shown in FIG. 15. FIG. 16 shows the NMOS pass gate 360 logic controlled by the SRAM in FIG. 14 converted to hard-wire logic. A contact 362, connected to Vcc (logic 1) or Vss (logic 0) depending on the SRAM logic content, replace the SRAM cell. The SRAM logic mapping to hard wire connections are automatic and done by a software program that is verifiable against the bit-map.

Similarly, FIG. 17 shows the 5×6-switch point matrix 370 hard-wired by replacing the SRAM bits that control NMOS gates with hard-wires to Vcc or Vss. In FIG. 17, the bubble may represent either SRAM or hard-wire Vcc or Vss control on NMOS pass gates. In the case of Fuse or Antifuse arrays, contact or no contact between the two metal lines in FIG. 15 directly replaces the programmable element and there is no NMOS pass-gate needed.

The P-Term logic builds the core of PLD's and complex PLD's (CPLD's) that use AND-OR blocks 202-204 (or equivalent NAND-NOR type logic functions) as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 5 and one expansion is shown in FIG. 6 with and gates 210 and or gates 212. Gate implementation of two inputs (I1, I2) and two P-terms (P1, P2) NAND function can be single poly EEPROM bits as shown in FIG. 10. The dotted circle contains the charge trapping floating gate, the programming select transistor, tunneling diode, a control gate capacitor and programming access nodes. The SRAM cell replaces that entire circle in this invention as detailed next. The SRAM NAND-NOR array (also AND-OR array) replacement has not been realized in prior art as SRAM cells require Nwell & Pwell regions that consume large silicon area to prevent latch-up. The SRAM in TFT do not have well related constraints as NMOS and PMOS bodies are isolated from each other. Keeping the two pass gates in silicon layers and moving SRAM to TFT layers allow P-Term logic implementation with SRAM cells and subsequent replacement with hard-wires. In TFT SRAM conversion to final ASIC, the bubble on NMOS gate becomes a hard-wire connection to Vcc or Vss.

The length of input and output wires, and the drive on NMOS pass gates and logic gate delays determine the overall PLD delay timing, independent of the SRAM cell parameters. By moving SRAM cell to TFT upper layers, the chip X,Y dimensions are reduced over 20% to 50% compared to traditional SRAM FPGA's, providing a faster logic evaluation time. In addition, removal of SRAM cell later does not alter lateral wire length, wire loading and NMOS pass gate characteristic. The vertical dimension change in eliminating the memory module is negligible compared to the lateral dimension of the ASIC, and has no impact on timing. This allows maintaining identical timing between the FPGA and ASIC implementations with and without the SRAM cells. The final ASIC with smaller die size and no SRAM elements have superior reliability, similar to an ASIC, leading to lower board level burn-in and field failures compared to PLD's and FPGA's in use today.

Next, the wiring and/or routing circuit 112 is discussed. The wiring and/or routing circuit connects each logic block to each other logic block. The wiring/routing circuit allows a high degree of routing flexibility per silicon area consumed and uniformly fast propagation of signals, including high-fanout signals, throughout the device. The wiring module may contain one or many levels of metal interconnects.

One embodiment of a switch matrix is a 6×5 programmable switch-matrix with 30 SRAM bits (or 30 Anti-fuses, or 30 fuses), shown in FIG. 15. The box in FIG. 14 contains the SRAM cell shown inside dotted box of FIG. 14, where the pass gate makes the connection between the two wires, and the SRAM bit holds the configuration data. In this configuration, the wire connection in circuit 112 occurs via a pass transistor located in circuit 104 controlled by an SRAM cell in circuit 108. During power-up, a permanent non-volatile memory block located in the system, loads the correct configuration data into SRAM cells. In Fuse or Anti-fuse applications, the box simply represents the programmable element in circuit 108 between the two wires in circuit 112. During the ASIC conversion this link is replaced with an open or short between the wires.

Another embodiment provides short interconnect segments that could be joined to each other and to input and output terminals of the logic blocks at programmable interconnection points. In another embodiment, direct connections to adjacent logic blocks can be used to increase speed. For global signals that traverse long distances, longer lines are used. Segmented interconnect structures with routing lines of varied lengths can be used. In yet other embodiments, a hierarchical interconnect structure provides lines of short lengths connectable at boundaries to lines of longer lengths extending between the boundaries, and larger boundaries with lines of even longer length extending between those boundaries. The routing circuit can connect adjacent logic blocks in two different hierarchical blocks differently than adjacent logic blocks in the same hierarchical block. Alternatively, a tile-based interconnect structure can be used where lines of varying lengths in which each tile in a rectangular array may be identical to each other tile. In yet another implementation, the interconnect lines can be separated from the logic block inputs by way of a routing matrix, which gives each interconnect line more flexible access to the logic block inputs. In another embodiment, the interconnect routing is driven by programmable buffers. Long wire lengths can be sub-divided into smaller length segments with smaller buffers to achieve a net reduction in the overall wire delay, and to obtain predictable timing in the logic routing of the PLD.

Next, a brief description of the manufacturing process is discussed. During manufacturing, one or more digital circuits can be formed on a substrate. Next, the process selectively fabricates either a memory circuit or a conductive pattern substantially above the digital circuits to control portion of digital circuits. Finally, the process fabricates an interconnect and routing layer substantially above the digital circuits and memory circuits to connect digital circuits and one of the memory circuit or the conductive pattern.

The process can be modified to fabricate a generic field programmable gate array (FPGA) with the constructed memory circuit or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with the constructed conductive pattern. Multiple ASICs can be fabricated with different variations of conductive patterns. The memory circuit and the conductive pattern have one or more substantially matching circuit characteristics. In this case, timing characteristics substantially unchanged by the circuit control option. The process thus fabricates a programmable logic device by constructing digital circuits on a substrate; and constructing a non-planar circuit on the substrate after constructing the digital circuits, the non-planar circuit being either a memory deposited to store data to configure the digital circuits to form a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a conductive pattern deposited to hard-wire the digital circuits to form an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), wherein the deposited memory and the conductive pattern have substantially matching timing characteristics. In another embodiment, the hard-wire ASIC option may be incorporated into the digital circuit layer 100. In another embodiment, the hard-wire ASIC option is incorporated into the routing layer 110.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications thereof, have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise embodiment and the described modifications, and that various changes and further modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A programmable semiconductor device that provides identical functionality and timing characteristics, fabricated with two different fabricating options comprising: a first fabricating option utilizing a first set of masking patterns and a first process sequence; and a second fabricating option utilizing a second set of masking patterns and a second process sequence, wherein a plurality of masking patterns are identical between said first and second sets of masking patterns.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein said second set of masking patterns comprises less masking patterns compared to said first set of masking patterns to reduce the device cost.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein said second process sequence comprises a logic process sequence and said second set of masking patterns comprises at least one custom mask to construct a specific device with predefined functionality and timing.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein said at least one custom mask provide wire connections coupled to a power bus or a ground bus to hard-wire a memory pattern.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein said first process sequence comprises a configuration memory process sequence inserted into a logic process sequence to construct a generic device that allows a user to customize functionality or timing by configuring the memory pattern.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the configuration memory element is selected from one of electrical-fuse links, laser-fuse links, antifuse capacitors, SRAM cells, DRAM cells, metal optional links, EPROM cells, EEPROM cells, Flash cells, Carbon nano-tubes, Electro-Chemical cells, Electro-Mechanical cells, Optical cells, Electro-Magnetic cells and Ferro-Electric cells.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein both of said first and second fabricating options comprise a first module layer comprising transistors for digital circuits, fabricated with an identical sub-set of masking patterns and an identical process subsequence.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein both of said first and second fabricating options comprise a second module layer comprising interconnect to connect digital circuits, fabricated with an identical sub-set of masking patterns and an identical process subsequence.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein a third module layer differs between said first and second fabricating options, comprising: a user configurable memory process sequence in the first fabricating option, said configurable memory providing a plurality of memory patterns to change the functionality or timing of the device; and a hard-wired memory metal process sequence in the second fabricating option, said hard-wired memory pattern identical to one of said plurality of user configurable memory patterns in the first fabricating option, wherein the device functionality and timing is substantially unchanged by the memory option.
 10. A semiconductor device that provides identical functionality and timing characteristics, fabricated with two fabricating options comprised of: a user configurable high cost fabricating option utilizing a set of masking patterns and, a process sequence; and a mask programmable lower cost fabricating option utilizing a reduced set of said masking patterns and reduced steps of said process sequence, wherein at least one mask is customized and a plurality of masks are identical.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the user configurable option forms a programmable logic device (PLD), further comprising: one or more digital circuits formed on a first module layer; one or more programmable logic blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more memory blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more configurable memory elements formed on a second module layer and electrically coupled to the programmable logic blocks to customize the programmable content of the PLD; and one or more interconnect and routing wires formed in a third module layer, electrically coupled to first and second module layers to provide the functionality of the PLD.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the second module layer is generic and user configurable to program and re-program to alter the functional response and performance of the PLD.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein the configuration memory element is selected from one of electrical-fuse links, laser-fuse links, antifuse capacitors, SRAM cells, DRAM cells, metal optional links, EPROM cells, EEPROM cells, Flash cells, Carbon nano-tubes, Electro-Chemical cells, Electro-Mechanical cells, Optical cells, Electro-Magnetic cells and Ferro-Electric cells.
 14. The device of claim 10, wherein the mask programmable option forms an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), further comprising: one or more digital circuits formed on the first module layer; one or more programmable logic blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more memory blocks formed on the first module layer and electrically coupled to the digital circuits; one or more predetermined wire connections formed on the second module layer and electrically coupled to the programmable logic blocks to customize the programmable content; and one or more interconnect and routing wires formed in a third module layer and electrically coupled to first and second module layers.
 15. The device of claim 14, wherein the predetermined wire connections is formed using a bitstream file from the first selectable configuration and wherein the bitstream file is used to map a substantially identical logic control pattern from said first selectable configuration.
 16. The device of claim 14, wherein the predetermined wire connections is integrated in the first module layer.
 17. The device of claim 14, wherein the predetermined wire connections is integrated in the third module layer.
 18. The device of claim 10, wherein for every given memory pattern of the second module layer in the user configurable option, a unique predetermined wire connection pattern exists in the mask programmable option to substantially match logic customization.
 19. The device of claim 10, wherein one or more of the circuit blocks within the first module layer maintain substantially identical timing characteristics under both fabricating options of the second module layer.
 20. A programmable semiconductor device, wherein the functionality or timing of a portion of digital circuits fabricated on a semiconductor substrate is determined by digital inputs, said digital inputs fabricated by two different fabricating options, wherein: a higher cost fabricating option comprises a plurality of masking layers and process steps to fabricate storage elements above the digital circuits that allows a user to configure one storage pattern from a plurality of storage patterns to customize digital inputs; and a lower cost fabricating option comprises eliminating storage element fabricating masks and processing steps and hard-wiring one or more metal and via masks to customize a specific digital input pattern. 